#(murder) tw

Precious Arzuaga is expected to be sentenced Sept. 4 to life in prison without parole after admitting to charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, concealment of a human corpse, conspiracy, coercion and endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the death of Nordquist, a 24-year-old from Oakdale, Minnesota. [...] Arzuaga is one of seven people charged in the case. She admitted to being the one to conceal Nordquist's body after his killing, prosecutors said. [...] Kayla [Sam's sister] said she does not believe all the details of Sam’s abuse were revealed in court. "I feel like I was slapped in the face because I deserve the truth, my mom deserves the truth, the community deserves the truth, and I don't feel like we got all of what happened to Sam today," she said.

Around the same time the news about his murder was breaking, a Black trans woman was also murdered in my neck of the woods. Her name was Tahiry Broom. Her family says she loved making people laugh, that she was full of energy and confidence. She was only 29. (UPDATE on this link: In the original article linked in the most popular version of this post, her identity as a trans woman was edited to a much more transphobic phrasing a day or two afterwards. The new link contains all the previous information, correct phrasing, and updated info.)

Her murderer called 33 sex workers, several of whom were also trans women. He had no money on him. He intended to rob and/or kill at least one woman that day, who he felt society wouldn't rally for or miss. She was just the woman who fell into that category, for him.

Please donate to the GoFundMe organized by her aunt, Patricia Bender. Tahiry deserved so much better. She deserved a full life. Her family is trying to make sure she's surrounded by love in death. From the date of this post (Feb. 18, 2025), it's 4 days until her service (Feb. 22, 2025).

But because Pauly Likens Jr was a transgender girl, the general public is going full trans panic defense, even though the perpetrator said they met on Grindr, if that was even true. Grindr doesn’t verify the age of its users and legally doesn’t have to due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which means half of sexually active queer adolescents will use this app and fall into the hands of predators.

https://www.wgbh.org/news/national/2021-07-12/unseen-part-3-popular-gay-dating-app-grindr-poses-exploitation-risk-to-minors

Grindr has been known to have a sexual exploitation of minors issue, and I just know that people are going to see that Pauly Likens Jr and her killer may have used this app to blame Pauly for her own demise.

It’s just like they did with Gwen Araujo in 2002 (a 17 year old trans girl killed by 4 grown ass men), Mercedes Williamson in 2015 (a 17 year old trans girl killed by a grown ass man) and Nikki Kuhnhausen in 2019 (a 17 year old trans girl killed by a grown ass man). You stop being an innocent kid who is capable of being victimized when you’re trans. You’re a threat to other kids your age or younger, and you’re a precocious sexual provocateur towards adults. This applies especially to transgender girls - complete dehumanization and transmisogyny.

And you're just expected to rawdog that shit. And sometimes even you treat your own past like a funny little joke until things get too real and you have a war flashback in your bedroom despite the fact that this body has never been to war, and then you just. Have to confide in the few people that will take it seriously.

A South Carolina jury on Monday found a store owner not guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting of a Black 14-year-old. Chikei Rick Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia, but maintained he acted to defend his son. The killing sent waves of anguish and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black. After the verdict was read, sobs and cries of distress could be heard coming from Carmack-Belton's family seated in the gallery. Chow sat silently frozen before slowly bowing his head onto his interlocked hands. [...] "This case is not about a shoplifter. This case is about a father who sees a gun pointed at his son and had to make a decision," defense attorney Shaun Kent told jurors during closing arguments. The defense attorney said Andy Chow testified that Carmack-Belton pointed a gun at him. Prosecutors acknowledged Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic pistol, but they say it fell on the ground during the chase, and he never threatened anyone with it. Prosecutors said Chow chased the teen more than 130 yards from the store. There was no indication that the teen and Chow had a fight in the store before Carmack-Belton ran away, Richland County Coroner Nadia Rutherford said at the time. She also confirmed the teen died from a gunshot wound to the right lower back, "consistent with someone who was running away." [...] Gipson said multiple witnesses testified that they didn't see anything in Carmack-Belton's hands and didn't see him point a gun as he ran from the store. "Nobody testified that happened that doesn't have the last name Chow," Gipson said.

“Yesterday a jury watched our 14-year-old boy run away from two grown men on video. They knew one of them shot him in the back and they still said no one is to blame,” the family said in a statement first released to ABC News. “We are heartbroken. We do not accept it. Cyrus stole nothing. He was a child, and he was running for his life. Our son mattered.” [...] “To everyone hurting with us: honor Cyrus in peace. We will not stop. We’re taking this fight to civil court, and we will not rest until our son’s life is given the dignity this verdict denied him,” the family added. According to family attorney Todd Rutherford, the family filed a civil lawsuit against Rick Chow in Richland County, which was put on hold until the conclusion of the criminal case.